Caught between a patchy monsoon, farmers in distress and the Centre's stringent norms on declaring drought, the state government has decided to conduct a ground verification survey in 130 talks that are facing drought-like conditions to assess crop damage.

Agriculture minister N Chaluvarayaswamy on Friday said the assessment will be carried out in at least 10 villages in each of the 130 taluks. The survey is expected to be completed by August 31.

"Based on this report, the cabinet sub-committee will recommend to the Centre to declare drought in those talks that meet the criteria," the minister said.

Central government norms state, a taluk can be declared drought-hit only if the rainfall shortage is less than 60% and sowing less than 75%. Besides, the taluk should not have had any rain whatsoever for at least three weeks. Even moisture content in the soil and water storage in the state's reservoirs are taken into consideration. "Unless we meet all these criteria, we cannot seek assistance from the Centre for drought relief," Chaluvarayaswamy said. He said Karnataka has recorded an overall rain deficit of 25% this monsoon. As against the normal rainfall of 654mm, it received just 487mm rain from June 1 to August 24. But parts of the state, especially in north Karnataka, are worse off than others.

"The weather forecast for the last week of August and the first week of September is also not very encouraging," Chaluvarayaswamy said.

Sowing too has taken a hit. The minister said sowing happened on 64.8 lakh hectares as against a targeted area of 82 lakh hectares. "Except crops in catchment areas, most others have been affected. If it does not rain for another week, the situation will get worse," he said.

He said some 16 lakh farmers have registered for crop insurance this year and over 35,000 farmers from 194 villages have received Rs 35 crore from insurance companies as compensation. "Farmers who lost crops sown in June have got compensation," he said.

The weak monsoon has also led to a scarcity of drinking water in several parts of the state, even while water levels in major reservoirs are fast depleting.

While reservoirs in the Cauvery basin are 65% full and those in Krishna basin are at around 80%, storage in hydel reservoirs is just half of their capacities.

Source - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com